Adventures at Camp Half-Blood
by HawaiiBeachBum
Summary: Kori, a new girl at a small school, is in foster care. She never knew her mother and her father died when she was young. To her surprise, she is a daughter of Athena, a demigod, and she belongs at Camp Half-Blood. With the help of a boy and his mother, Kori is taken to the place where she belongs. Join her on an endless adventure in a place where excitement and danger rule.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Kori**

"And because of this," the teacher droned on, "humans are able to grasp the importance of culture and how it can affect our lives now and in the future. Any questions?"

I had started the class sitting up and – somewhat – attentive. Twenty-five minutes into the lecture, I began balancing my head on my hand. And after forty-five long minutes, I had completely fallen asleep, along with seven others in the dull classroom.

The teacher repeated himself. "Any questions?" Again, no hands were raised. A boy sitting in the back was busy scratching something into his desk while some girls in the row ahead of him passed notes back and forth. The teacher noted the sleeping students with little to no surprise. My head began to slip down my arm when it fell on the desk. I awoke with a start, not remembering where I was and realizing that I had fallen asleep. I felt a pang of guilt in my gut, but after remembering what class I was in, I ignored it with a shrug and rested my head on my hand once more.

After two minutes of absolute silence and – to the teacher's annoyance – no questions, the bell rang and the students sprang to life. People began to grab their binders, collect any notes that had fallen on the floor, and erase any doodles on the desk. The students swarmed to the door, which, to my dismay, was blocked by the teacher. "Sit down," he said stiffly, and the children shuffled back to their seats as they whispered complaints to each other.

Once everyone was in a desk again, the teacher announced, "No one is leaving this room until a question is asked." Immediately, the boy in the back who was vandalizing the desk raised his hand. The teacher called on him and every pair of eyes in the classroom turned in his direction.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" he asked, and the class stifled a laugh.

The teacher sighed loudly and ran a hand down his face. "No."

Another hand was raised in the front of the room. It was another boy who was sitting next to me. I recognized that he was in most of my classes, but I had never talked to him. I didn't even know his name.

"Tyler," the teacher called, nodding to him. Tyler was a jock, as far as I could tell, and he was kind of cute. He had brown hair that messily rested on his head, with matching chocolate-brown eyes and dark freckles. His light olive skin radiated with confidence, and I couldn't help but stare at him.

It turned out that Tyler was a lot smarter than he looked. "I'm still kind of confused about the timeline of events in Ancient Egyptian culture. About, like, what events happened where and how they connect to today. Could you draw, like, a timeline or something?"

The teacher smiled, happy that he finally had a job to do. He turned his back to the class and began drawing, much to Tyler's pleasure. A smile spread across his face as he got up and mouthed _Let's go_. The class quietly escaped the classroom while the teacher was occupied with drawing a timeline that wasn't really necessary.

After social studies was lunch, which was probably my worst subject. I was new at the school and I had nobody to sit by. You know in those books how immediately after the new girl steps in the front doors of her new school, people who want to be her friend surround her? Well, reality is way different. I learned early that the kids in Nebraska weren't really keen on making new friends. But I was used to it; this was my third foster family, and I was lucky to get out of the orphanage.

If lunch was a graded period, I would be lucky to end the year with a D- while everyone else would be passing with flying colors. I spent the miserable twenty minutes eating my peanut better and jelly sandwich in the library, away from the noisy, crowded lunchroom. I normally used lunch period as a study hall since I had Miss Smiley's reading class the next period.

I was in a special class for reading since I had dyslexia. It sucked. Miss Smiley was way too positive and had the most annoying voice any person could ever have, all high-pitched and squeaky with an annoyingly huge smile on her face. Except when you upset her. I remembered the week before when Katie, another girl with dyslexia, forgot to read a chapter of the assigned book for homework. Miss Smiley went crazy scary and kicked her out of the classroom. That day, I had forgotten to read the next chapter, so I hurried to read it as fast as I could and tried to understand all of it.

Luckily, I finished just as the bell rang, and headed to her room before the mob of children coming out of the lunchroom could raid the hallway. I found myself thinking about Tyler. I wondered if he was in my reading class, and hoped he was. There was something about him that made me want to get to know him more. I felt like we had a lot of things in common.

I reached the classroom two minutes before the bell rang, which meant that I was alone. Miss Smiley's classroom was smaller than the others. It was squished in between the social studies room and the science room and was probably less than half their size. This made sense; there were less than ten people in the class. The room was connected to another room that was similar to it. It was the TAG classroom. The TAG room was on the other side of the school, but was connected to Miss Smiley's room by the office. Both teachers shared an office, and you could walk through it to get to the other classroom. This was convenient for me because I had TAG math after Miss Smiley's class.

The other kids in the class began showing up thirty seconds before the bell rang. I paid special attention to who walked in. Katie and Reagan walked in together, gossiping quietly. They were much too pretty to be dyslexic, but apparently your reading abilities didn't like to keep up with your looks. Katie's long, blond hair was swept over her shoulder and fishtail braided. Reagan's dirty blond, almost brown hair was tied back in a French braid. She was wearing the tightest of tight black leggings that made her legs look even skinnier, with a black and red and white plaid flannel shirt that barely covered her butt. Katie wore black and white vertically striped leggings with a sheer, light blue button down that also barely covered her butt. Reagan wore tan UGGs while Katie wore black combat boots. One look at them and you could quickly tell that they were popular.

Hattie walked in next, her face covered by a book. I guessed she was in denial over the fact that she was dyslexic. Apparently she was a newcomer in the class while everyone else (except me, the new kid) had been coming to this class since elementary school. She was Indian, and not the Native American kind. She was Indian like from India, with dark skin and black hair and she always smelled like curry. She was the smartest kid in school if you ignored her reading disorder. She wore thick-framed black glasses that made you believe she knew everything and she talked with an accent that could make you listen to her for hours. I loved it when Miss Smiley made her read because 1) she was the best reader in the class and you could actually comprehend the material and 2) her accent made you pay even more attention. She was wearing a strange looking purple jogging suit that looked like the one I used to wear when I was four. Despite the crisp fall temperature outside, she wore white sandals with flowers on them, showing her dark-skinned feet.

The last three people who walked in were all boys and were all jocks – Zion, the super cute (and ripped) African American with short black hair; Levi, also cute and muscular but with blond curly hair that landed a few inches above his shoulders; and, to my surprise, Tyler, looking just as good as he did before lunch. He caught me looking at him and he smiled. All three of the boys were wearing athletic shorts and shirts, along with basketball shoes and Elites.

Miss Smiley's room didn't have separate desks; there was no need since there were only seven kids in the class. Instead, there was a large rectangular table. In front of it was a large whiteboard on the wall where Miss Smiley sat at the table with her back facing it. Hattie sat on the short end of the table on Miss Smiley's left side, and I sat on Miss Smiley's right side. Reagan sat next to Hattie on the short side, and Katie sat on the long side next to Reagan. Zion left an empty seat next to Katie and sat at the next on over. Levi sat next to Zion. There were two seats left: the one next to me, and the one in between Katie and Zion. I watched as Tyler chose the one next to me, slowly pulling out the chair and sitting in it. I looked down at my hands and felt him glancing in my direction.

Miss Smiley hadn't showed up yet, so people started talking. Tyler and me stayed silent. After the late bell rang, I turned to Tyler and said, "Nice move in social studies." I tried not to sound desperate to start a conversation. He didn't seem to mind.

He smiled wide and I got a good look at his eyes. "Thanks. I was worried that I hadn't sounded smart enough, but apparently it worked!"

"It was a brilliant idea," I said, quieter now.

"Thanks." We held eye contact for a few more seconds before he dropped it and stared at the wall in front of him.

Miss Smiley walked into the room, and class commenced. It was as horrible as it ever was. I paid attention to about 35% of what we were reading which was hardly enough. The other 65% was spent noticing Tyler. I felt him watching me from the right, and I watched him, too. I almost wished that he had sat next to Zion since it would have been easier to stare at him without getting caught. It felt strange and foreign to have another body sitting next to me at the table; I normally sat there myself. His presence was warm and I spent the last fifteen minutes of class timing my breaths to his.

**Tyler**

Kori intrigued me. She was new to the district so I paid special attention to her, which led me to find three things: 1) she was pretty, but not the daughter of Aphrodite, 2) she was in all of my classes, which was nice, and 3) she was special, like me. I was a son of Apollo, which made me good at music and art and poetry, but I was also a demigod so that made me bad at reading English.

When I entered the classroom, my eyes immediately hit her. It was hard to ignore her. She had bright, curly red hair and stunning green eyes. She was dressed in navy blue skinny jeans with white anchors on them, and a grey shirt with a yellow-green long-sleeved cardigan. On her feet she wore yellow-green Vans that matched her cardigan.

As soon as I found out that she was in my special reading class, I felt like it was my job to watch her and find out if she was a demigod or not. There were no satyrs in Nebraska. I had lived here all my life and none of them came to get me. It was my mother who finally broke down and told me who I really was and why the monsters were chasing me. I was eight then, and I was scared. She home-schooled me until I was twelve, when she sent me to Camp Half-Blood. I learned how to fight off the monsters and gathered the courage to go back to public school.

As far as I could tell, Kori had no idea what she was. I had never seen her before she had come to this school, so I assumed that she had never been to Camp Half-Blood. When I had my first conversation with Kori in Miss Smiley's reading class, I had been going to Camp Half-Blood for two summers – I was fourteen. And let me tell you, I had never been under so much stress in my life. I faced monsters daily on my walk to school in the morning, and my mom had begun worrying about me. She was intent on making me a full-time camp member and I was definitely not complaining. But on this day, I was also intent on something: somehow, Kori was coming with me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Tyler**

My mom picked me up after school and she could tell something was up. During TAG math, I sat next to Kori again and we talked under our breaths during the instruction. After the homework was assigned, we worked together and I learned a lot about her. For one, she was quiet, and it took a lot of prodding to get her to talk to me. She was also a foster kid. She told me that she never met her mom (which assured me even more that she was a demigod – probably a daughter of Athena) and her dad had died in a car accident when she was six. I got uncomfortable at this point in our conversation because I wasn't sure if she was going to cry or not. "I'm sorry about your dad," I said after she told me.

"It's okay," she assured me in barely a whisper. She looked at me, her green eyes showing intense emotion while her voice hid it all. "I didn't really know him anyway."

That was the last thing she said to me that day. I went through the next two periods without earning even a glance from Kori. I guessed that I had hit a soft spot and I felt bad. But because I found out about her foster situation, it made it easier for me to formulate a plan. I just had to tell my mom.

"Hey, Tyler," she said as I opened the door and climbed into the front seat. I threw my backpack and other crap in the seat behind me.

"Hi." I buckled my seatbelt.

"How was school?" She started the car and backed out of her parking spot.

"Good."

She shot me a strange look and began driving. "Okay. What's up with you?"

I couldn't hide my smile any longer and just started beaming like a crazy person. I remembered how good it felt to finally be able to talk to Kori. "I have a proposal," I began cautiously.

"Okay…?"

"So there's this girl—"

"No!" she said suddenly. "You cannot date her!"

I slapped my hand to my forehead. "No, Mom! That's not what I was going to say!" My plan was falling apart in front of me. "I think she's a demigod."

"And?"

"And I want her to come to Camp Half-Blood with me. You know, become a full-time camper." Before Mom could argue, I started talking again. "You know that it's not safe for any demigod here. No satyrs, no nothing. The place is crawling with monsters, it's like another Tartarus!"

"Ty, it's not that bad. And plus, I'm sure her parent knows and they can make the decision to send her or not." Mom didn't look at me as she drove, which made me worry even more about bringing Kori to Camp Half-Blood.

"That's the thing, Mom!" I was getting upset at this point. I hadn't realized before this how passionate I was. All I could think was, _She needs to come she needs to come she needs to come_, and my brain wouldn't stop.

Mom was exasperated. I guess she thought that the issue was already dealt with. "What's the thing, Tyler?" She sighed loudly.

"Kori's dad is dead. He's _dead_, Mom!" I tried to make it sound as blunt and as unsettling as possible.

Silence.

I glanced at Mom. She was staring straight ahead with a blank expression on her face. Quietly, she said, "Who's taking care of her?"

"Some foster family who she's never met before." I squirmed in my seat to face Mom. "Explain to me how they would know she's a demigod."

"Tyler, _you _don't even know if she's a demigod!"

"But I'm pretty sure," I grumbled.

For a while, we just rode in silence. My brain was buzzing with ideas of how to tell Kori she was a demigod, but I was also worried about how I would convince Mom to follow my plan.

A few minutes later, Mom spoke up. "Okay. So if she is a demigod, what was your idea?"

"You're going to think it's stupid," I whined.

"Try me." We had stopped at a stoplight and Mom looked at me, a small smile on her face. "Besides, I think I know where you're going with this."

I let out a loud puff of air and spilled. "You become her parent/guardian and she moves to Long Island with us. Then she can be a full-time camper with me and she can be safe." I paused and continued. "Nebraska is not safe for demigods. There're no satyrs and the gods never show up to talk to us here. If Kori really is a demigod, she'll be dead by the time she's sixteen."

"But what about you?" Mom asked.

"Huh?" I was expecting a long lecture from her about why we couldn't take Kori with us. Mom had a thing for long lectures.

"When I become her parent/guardian, you can't like her anymore."

_When I become her parent/guardian_. She had said "when" instead of "if", and I freaked out. "Thank you thank you thank you, Mom! I told you it was the right thing, you will not regret it." And then the rest of what she said hit me, and I felt my face get hot. "I do not like her." I crossed my arms.

"Yeah, whatever." Mom rolled her eyes. "But yeah, I can see how this could work. After we go to Long Island, we can turn her over to Chiron. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Relief flooded over me. "No, no I'm sure he wouldn't mind." A smile was stuck on my face for the rest of the freaking day.

**Kori**

I found out, as I went through the rest of the school day, that Tyler was in all of my classes. We talked a lot; to the point that I was worried we were going to get in trouble. It was kind of weird how quickly we clicked, how suddenly he paid attention to my existence.

During math, he asked me if I had any siblings. I hadn't told anyone about my family situation ever. But I had this feeling that I could trust him, so I started carefully. "No," I whispered. I didn't want to get caught by the teacher. "I'm an only child." I turned to look at him. "How about you?"

"I have an older step-sister," he said. "But I never see her since she's in college. She just graduated high school last year," he explained.

"Cool."

"Cool."

We did a synchronized look away and acted like we were paying attention to the teacher, but I knew in truth we weren't. My mind was buzzing with questions for him but I was too shy to ask.

Out of the blue, he started talking again. "What do your parents do?"

I took a deep breath and stared at my hands. I knew this question was going to come up at some point, and I just had to face it. I couldn't keep my family a secret for long. "I never knew my mom, so I don't know what she does. Or did," I added quickly. I knew nothing about my mother. Dad never talked about her, unless he was telling me how beautiful she was and how much I reminded him of her. My dad was Irish, and that's where I got my red hair and green eyes and Celtic name: Kori. According to Dad I got my brains and stubborn personality from my mother. The more I thought about it, the more things I wondered about her. For starters, what was her name? I didn't even know that.

Tyler broke me out my thoughts. "How about your dad?"

_Do not cry_, I forced myself. "He actually died. It was a car accident. I was six," I said, quieter than before.

"Oh." The air between us was tense and uncomfortable, and it felt harder to breath. The air was thick with tension.

I kept going. "So I was sent to an adoption center and now I'm in my third foster home."

"I'm sorry about you dad," Tyler apologized.

"It's okay," I said. "I didn't even know him that well." Which was a total lie. My dad and me were super close and we did everything together. After he died, I refused to speak. Not a word came out of my mouth. I also didn't smile, which worried the caretakers. They thought that only happy kids would get adopted, but what kid would be happy in a place like that? I underwent therapy and decided to talk again, and I finally got fostered out for the first time. I had a nice foster family, more like a foster couple. Both young, they were fostering to get ready to have their own children. The woman was a teacher and the man was a doctor and they really did mean well. I felt bad that I couldn't be the happy kid that they wanted.

My second foster family was much different than the first. The people had seven kids already and I always felt like I didn't belong there. It felt just like the orphanage; kids everywhere and not enough attention. I lasted there for a week before breaking down one night and begging to get sent away. Instead of returning me to the orphanage, they sent me to Nebraska where they had a relative who wanted to foster. It was a woman named Tamara but liked to be called Tara. She was in her late twenties and was super nice. I couldn't have gotten luckier with her. She paid special attention to me and we did fun things on the weekends. I even found myself hoping that she would adopt me.

I didn't talk to Tyler for the rest of the day but I really wasn't sure why. Maybe I was embarrassed at my pathetic situation, or maybe I just didn't feel like talking to anyone anymore. I felt him looking at me all the time and I felt bad that I didn't return his smiles. I knew he was trying to be nice to me but I couldn't muster up any extra energy for him.

I spent the rest of the day in silence.


End file.
